Isolation
by OddlyTrue
Summary: After the death of your partner, how do you expect to go on? Believe Alice, it's tough. Especially when it was your fault he died in the first place.
1. Welcome Back

"She answered much too quickly for my liking." The lighting in the room showed only part of his left cheek, the rest of his face was covered by his cap and the shadow it created. His fingers tensed around the edge of the table with each breath that he took. "Maybe it was because she was nervous? Your were questioning her as if she had killed a man. It was very unlikely that she was to survive the attack in the first place, and as soon as she was healthy enough to talk, here you come, bursting through her door and interrogating her! How did you expect her to react?"

My voice began to rise unexpectedly, and a nurse shot me a glare as if to keep quiet. I glanced around the room, making sure I had not waken any patients up before continuing my rant. "She hasn't even been told her family died during transport, so why would you ask her about her friend? Like it was her fault he was killed in the first place. Honestly Grant, I can't believe your so rude!" I whispered.

"People may be dying, but there's no reason to speak as if you losing you voice, Vivien." I shoved a hand in my pants pocket. "I have a right to interrogate anyway. She should remember how he died in the first place." He lifted his face to look me straight in the eye. "If she says she was not there at the time of the killing, then I believe her. You should too. One of the oaths we made when we first got this job was to be open to all opinions. So where is your compassion?"

Before Grant could answer my question I opened the door to Alice Burg's room. Her shoulders fluttered to her unsteady breathing. "Alice, I must apologize for Grant. He can be an ass sometimes." Alice smiled weakly at me. "It's really not a problem, my family can be much worse at times." Instantly I felt regret. "I'm glad to see you've gotten your voice back. You wouldn't believe how relieved the doctors were when they found organs to replace yours."

My stomach clenched as I imagined the torn bloody image. "You were quite lucky an officer found you in time. Any second more and you would not have made it." Alice nodded enthusiastically, although I could see how much the simple movement had hurt her. "I'm feeling much better than I did when I woke up from the coma. I'm very grateful to your team. I am actually very surprised I survived."

Her eyes averted to the chair next to her bed. "Please, sit down." I took a seat. "Yes. This is the first occurrence that a person who has lost so many organs and blood has survived." Her smile turned grim, as if recalling the pain. "I'm surprised that the doctors even tried." Alice's shoulders slumped. "It was my father's money, wasn't it?" I nodded slowly. She sighed and fidgeted. "I should have known. The doctors said that you wanted to tell me something. What is it?"

The simplicity of our conversation took a quick turn. I crossed and uncrossed my legs. "I'll admit that Grant does that better than me. Alice, your entire family died during the transportation to a safe zone." I stared at her hair instead of her face. "A hoard of zombies killed them."

A moment of dead silence passed between us. "Can I tell you something?" She continued with out waiting for my response. "I sort of expected that to happen. So I'm not going to cry of anything." I stared at her with a shocked expression on my face. "I'm not hydrated enough to cry any how." She smirked. The smirk had no life in it, only hatred and death.

"Do you know what it's like to walk in to a room and find your best friend dead? It's horrible. The only thing I remember about the attack is the raging pain that shot out of my stomach. My eye sight began to turn red, and everything got bright." She chuckled softly to herself. "Guess it's true about seeing a bright light. I thought that was only something people made up because they were crazy." Alice ran a shaky hand through her hair. "I was so stupid." You could hear the tears in her voice. "I left for a _bag._ _A fucking bag!_" She sobbed in to her hands. "I left to get something that carried a toothbrush, a washcloth, and hairbrush, and a few extra bullets. Because of that, he died!"

"I thought you were too dehydrated to cry." Grant's voice echoed through the room. Alice slammed her hands on to her thighs. The sudden movement made me cringe. "For the record, I wasn't crying. I was sobbing. What the hell do you want?" Her voice came out sharp. Grant took a step back. "Vivien and I have to leave."

I stood up and gripped her hand softly. "I'm very sorry for your loss." Her red face tightened, but she managed to nod anyway.

My hands still trembling, I left the room with Grant.


	2. Waiting for Tomorrow

Even though my arm was still broken and I had a slight headache, the hospital released me because they needed room for more patients.

I am now standing in the "Safe Zone" courtyard. The moon light reflected off the bubbling fountain I was standing beside. I gradually lowered myself on to it's edge. The faint breeze wrapped around me, caressing my right arm, which hung in a cast. As it left, a few leaves rustled and fell gently to the concrete below it.

Nobody was walking around the courtyard, possibly because it was 12 P.M., but the more obvious reason is because the majority of people were inside the hospital, being treated for their almost fatal wounds. Before I left, it seemed that the doctors were running from room to room, and often I caught them talking about the lack of donors. I grimaced as I thought that I probably hadn't helped, considering how many organs I had needed replaced.

And that thought led to the night where I (almost) died. I cringed thinking about it.

The horrible thing is that Will dying that same night didn't make it that awful. And my recent discovery about my family being dead didn't sway me much.

As appalling as it sounds, it was strangely somewhat relieving. I looked at it this way, with the recent deaths, instead of carrying something that would remind me of my ghastly recent past, it made everything easier. Because I now knew that I could start over.

Everything would be different.

Someone yelling in the distance startled me. I quickly turned to see a man with thick rimmed glasses and a white coat running towards me. When he reached me, he was breathless. "I-I'm sorry." He gasped in air. "This is for you." He tucked the paper in between my thumb and my index finger. "You are to arrive at this address tomorrow at 9:30 A.M. The vehicle will transport you to the next safe city for healthy and recovering citizens." He nodded at me and jogged back to the hospital, which contained blinding lights compared to the courtyard.

I flipped the piece of paper over in my hands. On the other side of the paper read, "Alice Burg, Tent 647".

I picked up my bag - which contained 3 different outfits, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a towel, and a hairbrush - and left the courtyard in search of my temporary living quarters.


	3. Abbersdale, Here We Come

I was lying on my back when I awoke. The clock resting on the table beside ticked quietly. Suddenly the clock began to ring uncontrollably, and my hand slapped on top of it. The flaps to the tent ruffled slightly, and a hand sneaked in, followed by the same man who had given me the note yesterday.

Even though my eyes were blurry and watery, I could see the relief in his smile. "Good morning, Miss Burg." He ran a hand in his hair. "I'm glad to see you made it through the night." That tiny comment made my even breathing stop for a second.

He quickly noticed by horrified expression and his smile shrunk. He averted his eyes. "I probably shouldn't have said that." He mumbled. "Anyway, I've come to wake you up, but it looks like I came a little bit late." He nodded to my hand, which I then proceeded to move to my lap from the silent clock. "I'll wait outside until you gather all of your things." He quickly left the tent.

I blinked and took at least ten seconds to register exactly what just happened in that conversation. Technically, it didn't even count as a conversation, considering that I didn't say one thing. He didn't even allow me time to talk.

I laughed as I got out of bed, and for the first time since I got out of the hospital, the pain didn't matter. I embraced the happy gesture, and I felt it inside of me as I undressed.

* * *

After I got dressed (which is difficult with a broken arm) I poked my head out from my shelter. The blinding sunlight pierced my eyes and shone on me like a spotlight. I had an instant reaction to duck back in to cover, but another part of me wanted to stay outside all day just to feel the sun's warmth that the tent had refused from me.

"Too warm for you?" The man laughed.

"Just not used to it, I guess." I shrugged the answer off and proceeded to follow the man to my transport vehicle.

* * *

The air was slightly musky, but in a cozy sort of way. The lighting coming from the window barely lit up the room. In the room were two brown, worn out couches placed parallel from eachother. Above those couches were wide windows, the blinds slightly covering them, allowing only a little light as possible. Behind me was the back entrance, which passengers were to enter for the ride. I walked forward, passing a few cardboard boxes, and making my way towards the front of the bus.

When I approached the driver greeted me. "Howdy!" Ugh, I don't exactly know why, but I can't stand country accents. He reached his hand out. I hesitantly grabbed and shook it. "Name is Earl. I'll be driving you from this checkpoint to the next checkpoint, Abbersdale. Was a beautiful little town before the zombies, it was. But, I guess you don't want to talk about that now, do you? Well young lady, make yourself comfortable, this will be a long drive."

I moved to go sit down, but Earl's voice stopped me.

"By the way, there were passengers that were supposed to travel with you, but you took to long with the recovery and all. You will meet them once you get to Abbersdale. I heard they were very excited to meet you. Well go on, get some sleep. I can see your tired." As I walked away from him, I heard him mutter, "What an interesting group of people they were." as he started the engine.

_Great._ Because that's _exactly_ what I wanted to hear.


End file.
